Do you go to bed at night and wake up in the morning to find yourself lying exactly where you fell asleep? No I am not drunk, I’m simply checking to see if you’re awake. Now that I have your attention let me ask you a serious question – Do you really need 8 pillows on your bed? I am asking this because I want to touch on the subject of excess. Over the years I have observed that we are a society of excess. It seems that we absolutely must have more than we actually need. Hey, why get one when you can have five?
If you take stock of everything you own or each object in your home, how many of those possessions are things that you don’t need in order to survive as a human being? In fact, when you have some free time, try this little experiment and see what you come up with. I suspect you would be quite astonished at the amount of non-essential items you own. Essentially, all that we as Homo sapiens require is food, water, shelter and clothing. In our modern civilization we can maybe add a few other essentials to this short list like information (TV, radio, newspaper) a phone, a bed, a car, toilet, toilet paper, toothpaste and toothbrush and a microwave oven. Anything else could be considered excess. Basically, if it’s not vital to your survival then it is unnecessary surplus. It’s a choice between what you need and what you want. And I think the fact that we possess the capacity to want or desire something sets us apart from all the other animals on earth.
Animals do the things they do because it is their natural instinct to do so. They hunt because they need to eat to survive; they flee or attack when threatened, etc. Humans possess the same instincts but we also have the faculty of desire. Besides doing things because we need to, we also do things because we want to. But why do we do things which serve no practical purpose? No matter what psychologists or anthropologists say about it the answer is simple – it just feels good. Even though bread, butter and water is quite adequate to satiate our hunger, it just feels so good to have that Texan steak or that roast chicken with some chocolate mousse and a glass of wine or coke. Having a phone that merely makes and receives calls is not enough for us Homo sapiens, no sir, not at all. We want the email, the games, the mobile internet, that annoying fart application, the 10 megapixel camera and the HD recording.
Looking at life in the 21st century, can we really do without our excess? Can we as modern Humans continue being enlightened creatures if we do not indulge our desires? Whether we like it or not we live in an age of decadence were the pursuit of pleasure is of primary significance in all human endeavours. We have already reached such a ridiculous level of comfort in every aspect of our existence that the only frontiers left are more gratification and higher doses of pleasure. I don’t think we would even be able to function properly if we don’t get our daily fix of excess, whether it is 10 cups of coffee or a packet of Twinkies. It’s what defines us as a species. If we can’t have more of it then what’s the point? If we can’t get it in a bigger size then why even bother? Even though the planet’s fresh water is in precious short supply, you absolutely must have your swimming pool, right? It’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s who we are.
A thousand years ago we might have needed only the necessities of life because that is actually all there was on offer. There were no computers, smartphones, cars, TVs or BluRay. There wasn’t even toilet paper let alone 2-ply. It’s only because we know that these luxuries exist that we desire to have it. But since we do have access to these pleasure devices we might as well indulge our fantasies and enjoy, because in this fast-paced world we created for ourselves we will go mad if we don’t. So let me take a page out of Anton Szandor LaVey’s book and advise you not to abstain but to indulge.
